Early Cortical Processing In Schizophrenia

Nathan S. Kline Institute For Psych Res, Orangeburg NY

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This is an revision application for a supplement to an R37 project in response to Notice number NOT-OD-10-032, Notice Title: NIH Announces the Availability of Recovery Act Funds for Competitive Revision Applications (R01, R03, R15, R21, R21/R33, and R37) through the NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet). The revision application addresses category (A) Research on behavioral and social processes, which involves the study of behavioral factors related to health and medication conditions such as cognition, memory, language, perception, personality, emotion, motivation and others. The study specifically investigates the interrelationship between perception, cognition and emotion in schizophrenia, which is a major mental health condition affecting approximately 1% of the population worldwide. Deficits in cognition and emotion processing are major contributors to impaired social function. More recently research has documented significant dysfunction of early sensory processing in schizophrenia using behavioral, neurophysiological and functional brain imaging- based approaches. The present study will accelerate, expand and strengthen basic behavioral and social sciences research (b-BSSR) objectives of the project at the individual level, within the context of translational mechanistic research in schizophrenia. The parent application for this project (MH49334) is currently in year 2 of the latest cycle and year 18 overall. The specific aims of the latest cycle were 1) To continue evaluation of neurophysiological basis of auditory and visual processing dysfunction in schizophrenia, relative to predictions of glutamate/NMDA models;2) Within the auditory and visual systems, to continue evaluation of upward generalization of low-level sensory disturbances to higher order dysfunction. The present study will extend the project by evaluating effects of a sensory-based cognitive remediation intervention on perceptual, cognitive, emotional and social function in schizophrenia. Twenty subjects will participate (10 active/10 control) in a six week intervention protocol. Outcome measures will include behavioral assessments of perceptual/cognitive/emotional performance, neurophysiological assessments of basic visual processing, and fMRI measures of sensory/cognitive network performance. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Schizophrenia is a major mental health condition associated with impaired behavioral and social function. Deficits are driven in part by impairments in basic sensory/perceptual processing. This study will evaluate the effects of sensory-based remediation on cognition and global outcome in schizophrenia.